How to Change the Years in Google Earth
By Irene A. Blake
Google Earth provides aerial and ground-level views of different regions in single and spliced image formats. It also offers a historical imagery feature that gives you the ability to view and compare images from past years. You might use the service to see how your home area has changed over the years or, if you are a teacher or student, use it to compare geographic and man-made changes for class assignments. Whatever your reason, to change years in Google Earth, you need to turn on the feature and learn how it works.
Open Google Earth and locate the broad geographic region that has the imagery you want to review. Position your cursor on the Earth, click and hold the left mouse key, and then move the mouse up, down, left or right to rotate the Earth.
Click and drag the slider on the vertical zoom bar on the right side of the viewer up toward the “+” sign, or click the "+" button, to zoom to ground level.
Locate and click the "Historical Imagery" button (labeled with a clock icon) on the main toolbar to add the horizontal Historical Imagery slider toolbar to the top left area of the viewer.
Click and drag the time slider on the toolbar left to one of the vertical-line year markers. Check the status bar at the bottom of the screen to see the exact month and year.
Tips
You can also access the Historical Imagery toolbar by clicking “View” and then selecting “Historical Imagery.”
The Historical Imagery toolbar becomes semi-translucent when not in use. To use it after it fades into the background, hover your cursor over the area to make the year markers and bar background reappear.
Google Earth can automatically zoom to a location. Enter a city name, address or ZIP code into the Search field on the left sidebar and then click the “Search” button.
If the sidebar is closed, select “View” followed by “Sidebar.”
Warnings
Google Earth doesn’t feature images from every month or year.
Information in this article applies to Google Earth version 7.0.1.8244. It may vary slightly or significantly with other versions or products.
References
Writer Bio
Based in Southern Pennsylvania, Irene A. Blake has been writing on a wide range of topics for over a decade. Her work has appeared in projects by The National Network for Artist Placement, the-phone-book Limited and GateHouse Media. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Shippensburg University.